


Taking Care

by elliott (amywaited)



Series: The Taking Care Trilogy [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Cute, ENJOY IT, Fluff, I think?, Illness, M/M, Oneshot, Sickness, Super Soldiers, Sweet, idk how tags work, its cute i hope, soft, steve and bucky take care of him, taking care, tony stark has flu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-27 10:31:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13246347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amywaited/pseuds/elliott
Summary: Tony gets sick, Steve is over protective and Bucky keeps the peace. Well, he tries.(edit: 14th feb 2018so hi! apparently we’re at 100 kudos now (and 2k hits) which absolutely batshit crazy and i just wanted to say thank you. so, thank you.)





	Taking Care

Tony was positive he had caught it off of Clint. Or maybe Natasha, although he would never just outright accuse that woman. But they had all agreed that Steve and Bucky couldn’t get sick, so it was obviously not those two. And maybe it was Scott, or Sam but he hadn’t really spent enough time around either of them to catch a bug. He hadn’t really spent much time around them, period. Maybe Wanda, but she sort of kept herself to herself.

He should probably work on that, seeing as they were new members of the Avenger’s team. He should make an effort to get to know them.

“Friday, make a note to invite Scott Lang, Sam Wilson and Wanda Maximoff round for the next team dinner,” Tony ordered, before breaking off into a violent cough. Christ. 

“Of course, Boss. Might I suggest sitting out of the next Avengers mission, too?”

“No, you may not,” Tony said, standing up. “We have to go now, anyway, don’t we?”

“Captain Rogers did issue the alarm a few minutes ago.”

“Great,” Tony said. “Prepare me a suit, please.”

“On it, Boss.”

“Thanks, honey-bunches.”

Tony stumbled once on his way to the elevator, but it was enough to spark a reaction out of Friday.

“I really do think you should stay here, Boss.”

“I’m fine. Stood up too quickly,” Tony said. “Besides, it’ll be over before we know it.”

 

It was not over before he knew it. Tony couldn’t even remember what they were fighting, really. But maybe that was due to the fact that he felt all sort of out of it the entire time. Which, when you’re fighting life threatening enemies, is not the best state to be in. When Clint had jumped off a building (stupid, reckless, human assassin) expecting Tony to fly around and catch him (like he normally did), Tony had been too slow on the uptake and almost let Clint fall to his death. And when Nat had asked Tony to come and pick her up out of harm’s way, she had only just avoided being shot in the abodemen because Tony had flown too fast and gotten dizzy and disorientated. 

Steve was obviously saving the ‘don’t let team members have an intimate moment with death’ lecture for when they got back to the tower. 

Of course, that lecture would have to wait, because as soon as Tony got out of the Iron Man suit (practically the only thing holding him up at this point) he collapsed, dead on his feet. God, maybe he was more ill than he thought.

“Tony?!” 

He vaguely registered Steve yelling his name, and then Steve’s hands on his back and under his knees as he drifted in and out of consciousness. Turns out, fighting to save the world takes a lot out of you when you’re sick.

Tony was sort of aware of Bucky standing at his feet while they waited for the elevator to take them into the penthouse floor they all shared. He could feel Steve’s warm breath ghosting over his cheek too, even if he wasn’t sure if he was dreaming it or not. 

Then he felt Steve put him down on their bed, and he was sinking into feathery white warmth and.. Yeah, maybe he could sleep for a couple of hours.

 

A couple of hours turned into fourteen. When Tony next came to, Steve and Bucky were both sitting in chairs on either side of the bed. He felt, to put it frankly, like shit. 

“Tony!” Steve put down the book he had been reading. “What happened?”

“Hm?”

“Let him get his bearings, Stevie,” Bucky said, “He just slept for fourteen hours.”

Steve smiled at Tony. “How do you feel?”

“Fourteen hours?!” Tony exclaimed. “But-”

“But nothin’, doll. You’re sick, so you’re staying in bed for a bit,” Bucky interrupted.

Tony grumbled.

“He’s right, Tony. You are ill. Bruce said it was the flu, or something flu-like, at least. Why did you come out and fight with us if you were feeling under the weather?” Steve asked.

“Well, you know,” Tony said. “I wouldn’t have been any help from my bedroom, would I?”

“If you’re suffering from a disease that can kill people,” Bucky said, “They wouldn’t have expected you to help at all.”

Tony glared. “Still. Clint and Natasha wouldn’t have been able to survive if I hadn’t been there.”

“They barely did today,” Steve said, raising an eyebrow. “And before you say it, no, I’m not lecturing you on that.”

Tony giggled.

“I know you all think I’m some harsh, old school teacher,” Steve said, with a smile in his eyes.

“You are a bit, babe,” Bucky told him.

“But now we have a justified reason for why Natasha and Clint nearly lost their lives,” Steve carried on, ignoring Bucky. “But now I am going to lecture you on the importance of letting your teammates know when you’re injured, ill or in need of medical attention.”

“See?” Bucky muttered. “School teacher?”

“I wasn’t in need of medical attention.” Tony said, grinning at Bucky’s comment. “I’m fine. I’ve slept it off.” He made to stand up, but before he could even sit up he was met by two unfairly strong super soldiers pushing him back down.

“Oh no, you don’t.” Bucky told him.

“Not in need of medical attention?” Steve repeated. “Is that why you passed out as soon as we got back?”

Tony fell silent (and it one hundred percent was not because of Steve’s sort of scary, overprotective stare. Seriously, how dare you even insinuate the idea of Tony being scared of it?)

“Friday showed us the footage from before you guys left, too,” Bucky said. “Of you falling over on the way down.”

“I did not fall over!”

“You sort of did, Boss,” Friday chimed in.

“Goddammit. I can reprogram you, you know? You traitor, Fri-baby. Traitor,” Tony murmured to his ceiling.

“I know, Boss,” came her reply. Chilled, and not wary at all. Well, Tony wasn’t surprised. The threats of reprogramming her were probably getting a bit old now.

“Regardless of whether you actually fell over or not,” Steve said, “You still should have alerted one of us if you felt rough.”

“I thought it would just pass,” Tony said. “Really! I didn’t expect bed rest or anything.”

“Well, you have the flu. So, whether you thought it was nothing or not doesn’t particularly matter anymore. Not while you have a temperature of 103 degrees,” Bucky told him.

“103?” If Tony had been sitting up (curse you, inhumanely strong super soldiers) he would have slumped back down.

“103,” Steve repeated grimly. “Which means you aren’t doing anything much at all for the next three days, at least.”

“Three days?! But these three days are important! There’s the StarkPad 3 press announcement thingy, that I will be expected to be at, by the way. And then there’s the following after party, which I will also be expected at. The second day was After-Party-Recoverment-Day. Then the third day is my designated Work-On-Natasha’s-Weapons-Day, because otherwise she very well might murder me. And then any days after that are an absolute no-no. I have so much to do! I can’t just hole up in bed!” Tony complained.

“Don’t you think you’re doing too much?” Steve asked.

“Me doing too much is what keeps you and the rest of the team alive,” Tony muttered. 

“You can always work on stuff up here,” Bucky suggested. “We can bring some of the stuff into a spare bedroom, or something. That way you get to stay in bed and also work on things at the same time.”

“Why not in this bed?” Tony said.

“If you think I’m going to sleep on oil stained sheets, you got another thing coming. Its bad enough I have to put up with a grease stained boyfriend,” Bucky said.

“Aw, come on. You love me!”

Steve smiled at them. “A comprise. Alright. We can work it out.”

“You should go back to sleep,” Bucky told Tony.

Tony hummed. “Maybe. Won’t you two catch my sickness if you stay in here?”

“Even if we could, I wouldn’t care,” Bucky said.

“Wait, you don’t get sick?” 

Steve laughed. “Super soldier serum. We’re immune to all diseases now.”

“Why can’t I have super soldier serum?” Tony grumbled. “Hey, does that mean I can kiss you anyway, ‘cause it won’t infect you?”

Steve smiled and leaned down to peck Tony’s lips. “Go to sleep, sweetheart.” He brushed his hand against Tony’s forehead. “You’re so hot.”

“Why, thank you,” Tony said, putting his hand on top of Steve’s. “Also, that was a pathetic kiss. You’ll need to redeem yourself next time.”

“Haha,” Steve said. “Sleep.” He got up and pulled Tony’s (electric, voice activated) blinds.

“You could have gotten Friday to do that,” Tony said. “Bucky?” Tony turned his face towards the man, puckering his lips.

Bucky didn’t disappoint, kissing Tony for a lot longer than Steve. One of the kisses that made Tony go lightheaded and blush.

“That.. that is how you kiss someone,” he mumbled. Bucky grinned.

“Night, doll.”

 

Tony didn’t really feel any better. But his fever had gone down a little bit, and his nose had stopped running so much.

Day three of sickness, and he was feeling incredibly guilty for having put the StarkPad 3 announcements on hold. But Pepper understood. Pepper told him “you better get well again soon, though. Otherwise I’m unveiling these products without you.” Tony had told her she wouldn’t dare.

Well, he told Steve to tell her she wouldn’t dare, because Pepper was in Malibu and no one had seen him apart from his I-don’t-get-sick super soldier boyfriends. No one had called him either, and Tony was secretly glad. It was kind of nice to be away from the buzzing world of the internet, and also his hair was super greasy and he looked tired and pale.

Although, if he asked nicely, he was sure that Steve and/or Bucky would have no problem with washing his hair for him. But he wasn’t going to use being sick to his advantage.

Well, maybe a little bit.

Steve had already brought him about seventeen bowls of chicken soup (how he had expected Tony to finish all of them was beyond him. He’d hardly touched one, so Bucky had been eating it all for him.) And then they had both brought up some of his work equipment into the spare bedroom on their floor. So he could do his work now, which was nice, because then Tony didn’t get fidgety but Steve also didn’t get too protective because technically he was still in bed. 

Natasha had gotten him a new blanket. He didn’t really know why, because blankets weren’t really her sort of gift. But when he discovered that she had knitted it specially for him, well, you would cry a little bit too. And then he found the little Cap’s shield and Bucky’s red star in the corner and his heart just about melted. Since then, he hadn’t let it go (despite having accidentally rubbed engine oil onto a corner, spilt chicken broth on some of it and sniffled all over it). Steve kept trying to take it so he could wash it, but Tony hadn’t complied.

When Steve and Bucky told Natasha that Tony hadn’t put it down once, she smiled an actual, not fake smile. It was soft, and happy and, yeah, a little small, but it melted her features down until it looked like she had been sanded down till she was all smooth. All her sharp angles and rough edges evened out.

 

“Tony! You need to stop pushing yourself!”

“Oh, shush, Cap. I feel fine! Besides, look at this. I designed you a new shield! Look, its a millimeter thinner than the one you have now, which I know, it doesn’t sound like much. But it is, and I’ve also tried to put, like, a fingerprint scanner on it, so only you can it up. Which, yes, is a bit faulty, but I’m still working on it. But I will try to install some device into it so only you and people you want can use it, you know? A bit like Thor’s hammer, but instead of having to be worthy you just need the code.”

“That sounds awesome, Tony,” Steve said. “But why on earth are you down here in the workshop?”

“Because I feel better,” Tony said. “And you can’t bring all of my stuff into that bedroom, and I did everything I could up there. Seriously! I sketched out new designs for everyone’s armour, and some stuff for Veronica as well, you know. And then I did all the rewiring I could in Widow’s Bites. And I worked on some new arrow ideas for Clint, and also the wings for Sam. Also looked at the schematics for Scott’s suit, but I don’t quite understand the shrinking dimension-y stuff yet, so I’ll have to talk to Strange for that.” Tony was talking animatedly, waving his hands around.

“I don’t doubt that you feel better, Tony. But I would rather you stay in bed till your fever breaks, at least.”

“I’m okay. Really! Gotta keep you lot safe, don’t I?”

“I’d rather, we would all rather you keep yourself safe first, Tony,” Steve said gently.

“Boring,” Tony scoffed. “I am seriously, truly, one hundred percent okay to be doing this right now, okay?”

“Well, I only have your word for it,” Steve said, but he didn’t sound particularly happy about it.

“Actually, Captain Rogers, I can confirm that Boss is-”

“Friday, don’t you dare-”

“Currently suffering from a temperature of 101 degrees fahrenheit. He has been working down here for at least six hours longer then I recommended.”

“I can, and I will, uninstall you, Friday,” Tony said, defeatedly.

Steve glared at him. “So you’re okay, huh?”

“Yes, I am!” 

“Who’s yelling?” Bucky yelled, stepping out of the elevator, and grinning when he saw Steve and Tony about an inch away from one another. “Ah. Okay, what’s the argument about this time?”

“What do you mean ‘this time’?”

“Its always you two, arguing over Tony’s wellbeing,” Bucky said. “So, what is it this time?”

“We do not argue over my well being!” Tony said, at the same time Steve repeated what Friday had just told them.

“You’ve been working down here for longer then I told you you could?” Bucky asked, turning to Tony first.

“You let him come down here?” Steve all but screeched.

Tony had the decency to look shameful. “I just.. Had a lot to catch up on.”

“Yes, I let him come down, Steve. And it’s okay, because I did tell him only for two hours so you absolutely cannot blame me for this. I trusted him to come back up when I recommended, because Tony is an adult and can look after himself,” Bucky said. “And Tony, if you got behind in your work, no one would mind. As long as you fix yourself before trying to fix everything else, okay?”

Steve glanced at Bucky. “Fine.”

Tony hummed under his breath. “I got caught up. In work.”

“You always do,” Bucky said.

“I was just.. Trying to make sure you were all taken care of.”

“We’re trying to make sure that you get taken care of, too,” Steve said, sounding sort of desperate.

Tony smiled at Steve. “I know. Look, I’ll come up now and then you can hold me down till I’m completely better, okay?”

“On what conditions?” Steve asked, narrowing his eyes.

“You kiss me better then you did the other day,” Tony said.

Bucky snorted. 

Steve rolled his eyes, but complied. He and Bucky kissed so differently, that sometimes Tony got whiplash. Bucky was harsh and hard but soft and gentle all at the same time, distracting and comforting and dizzying. Steve was relaxed, calm, warm and soothing. Like he was breathing life into Tony’s lungs.

Steve carried Tony upstairs again. Tony briefly considered asking Bucky to wash his hair (seriously, that metal arm gave heavenly massages), but when he got into their bedroom, realised just how exhausted he was. The three of them collapsed onto their bed, tangled up in knots. Tony couldn’t tell where Steve’s arm ended and Bucky’s began. But that was okay, because really, Tony hadn’t felt better.

**Author's Note:**

> This is cute I hope! I hope! Haha. This was beta-d by my actual best friend, so hopefully there isn't so many mistakes as there normally is. Haha. (the friend is @beepbopbella on instagram, if you're interested! love u) Anyway, it is sort of short?? As short as 2.7k can be. I will be doing a sequel, of sorts. Well, two actually, but neither will have any relation to this fic at all! So, look forward to that once I write it. I super duper hope that you enjoyed it! There was also a lot more I wanted to type in this note, but I cannot for the life of me remember any of it. Goodness, I do such long notes, don't I?
> 
> As I've mentioned several times before, I do not live in the US! I have no clue how Fahrenheit measurements work (Celsius FTW), so all of it was done using Google. Very hastily using Google. Is 103 high for a Fahrenheit temperature? Who knows, not me.
> 
> This was also sort of inspired by me! How conceited can I get, right? No. I've been ill the past few days too, which thus pushed me to write this because I thought it would be cute. Is it cute? I've had a temperature of 39.6 degrees celsius for the past few days (kill me. Bear in mind that 40 is hospital level temperature), so I've been feeling quite under the weather. Also spent a few days in bed. I'm not quite tip-top yet, but I have decided that now that I'm not lying under my blanket with my eyes shut trying to ignore my headache, that I can type again! And also have decided to watch Once Upon a Time, because Seb Stan was in it (apparently? I don't actually know) and if you weren't aware, I love Sebastian Stan. 
> 
> Now, before this note reaches Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix length, I'll sign off. As always, comment your thoughts! I love hearing what you think (whether its constructive criticism, hate or love), it makes my day! Comments also motivate me to write more, so hey. We both win.
> 
> (If you want to see more of, well, me, feel free to check out my [tumblr](https://spideysstark.tumblr.com)
> 
> Love you! xox


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